


Sunset

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 07:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2339861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's reflecting on the sea and other things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the endless expanse of the ocean as I took off from Honolulu, written on a redeye and edited with no sleep. Sometimes those are the best stories. Other times...not so much. We'll see. :)

Steve looked out at the horizon, the almost twin blues of sky and ocean stretching farther than he could see. The view from his back yard hadn't changed since he was a kid, not from this spot. What that view meant to him, on the other hand, had gone through a series of changes.

As a small child, the horizon had been scary, something so vast and impossible to understand that he'd gone through a period of a couple of weeks where he wouldn't come out back alone. 

The horizon had quickly become something to be conquered, though. It was a challenge, the promise of an unknown future and the excitement of adventure just beyond the edge of where he could see.

When his mother died--or so he'd thought at the time--that view had been his solace. He'd swim out as far as he could, chasing that horizon, the peace and solitude a balm to the open wound in his heart.

The Navy had turned the horizon into a home. For years he'd felt more at home at sea than he had on land. Having conquered the sea and made his peace with it at the same time, though, he'd gone after the challenge of becoming a SEAL, turning the ocean back into new challenges and into a tool to be used strategically when necessary to accomplish an objective.

When he'd come home after his father's death, the view had been unsettling, shades of his childhood solace mixed in with the jarring image of blood spatter in the living room. He'd fallen back on his training, though, using it as a tool to hone his body, and sometimes, when all else failed, just to exhaust himself.

But the peace he'd found there years before had seeped back into his body over time. He'd found himself enjoying it again, surf boards and paddle boards pulled out of the cobwebs in the garage and put to use, settling something in him that hadn't been at peace since he'd been fifteen.

He knew the presence of Danny beside him had been a big part of that transition. He looked over at Danny's face, his eyes trained on the horizon. Danny, who'd lost a friend instead of his own life to the sea as a kid, who'd hated the sea with a fiery passion when he'd come to Hawaii. 

Danny, who'd eventually given in and taken surfing lessons, who'd even become a decent surfer. He wondered what Danny saw when he looked out at the sea, if it was kind of a 'keep your enemies closer' thing for him, or if he genuinely enjoyed it now.

He seemed at peace at the moment, staring out at the horizon as he sat relaxed in his chair, no sign of an issue with the ocean in front of him.

"What?" Danny said, without looking away from the horizon.

"What what?"

Danny turned his head to smile at Steve, one eyebrow raised. "You're staring."

"It's a nice view."

"You weren't staring at the ocean."

"I know."

Danny shook his head, but he was smiling. "You're still a goof."

Steve had long ago accepted that fact. "What time is Grace coming over for dinner?"

"Eight. Kai gets off his shift at six, but he has to go back on at six tomorrow, so they can't stay late."

"How'd we go so wrong as to let her marry a cop?"

Danny shrugged. "Clearly we were bad role models," he said. "Although at least _she_ didn't become a cop."

Steve shuddered at the thought. He and Danny loved their jobs, but the thought of Grace in danger like that all the time would have meant a lifetime of sleepless nights, for both of them. "There is that."

"Oh," Danny said, shifting in his chair to face a little more towards Steve, "speaking of kids becoming cop, Kono said that Ian has already filled out paperwork for the police academy."

"Already? He's only sixteen."

Danny laughed. "You expected Kono's son to be anything other than driven?"

"Has she forgiven Chin for the ride along that caused Ian to want to be a cop in the first place?"

"I think so. She didn't punch him in the arm yesterday when she got to HQ."

"Progress!" 

Danny laughed again, and Steve marveled that the sound of it still gave him a thrill after all these years, as did Danny's smile. It was unchanged, despite the extra lines surrounding it now, still bright and beautiful, and still with the power to catch Steve's breath.

"Have you heard from Mary?"

"Yeah. Joan's graduation is the fifth. We're expected to be there no later than the third, though. Some dinner or something."

"Oh great," Danny said with mock annoyance. "Several nights in San Diego. I'll be drowning in SEAL school stories."

Steve shrugged. "I can't help it if my stories are legendary, Danno."

"A legend in your own mind, maybe."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."

"Whatever." Danny said with a teasing smile. It was an old argument, one almost as familiar and comfortable as this spot on the beach. Oh, the words changed, but the argument was the same, always with a hint of something else behind it, something between them that never went away. 

"I should go start dinner," Danny said, pushing up out of the chair, favoring his knee. Steve knew it was bothering him after that long stakeout yesterday, just as he knew Danny would deny it if he asked. 

Of course, he also knew Danny would let him massage it later, pride shelved in favor of relief--and in favor of Steve's hands on him. 

Danny's hand lingered on Steve's shoulder, a soft caress, before he turned and went into the house. Steve watched him go, admiring the view, even as he turned his head back to the ocean, where the blue was being replaced by spectacular colors as the sun started dipping into the ocean.

It was an amazing view, one he had learned to cherish, but it lost a little of its beauty without someone to share it with.

He got up and went into the house to help Danny with dinner.

\---  
END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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